Today's Burlington (VT) Free Press reports on the start of the retrial in a case of James Turner who claims that Vermont's Roman Catholic Diocese failed to protect him from sexual molestation by a priest in 1977. The incident occurred after a ceremony for Turner's brother who was about to become a priest. A mistrial was declared in June in the first trial of the case because of objectionable questioning of Turner by diocesan lawyers. Turner's lawyer, Jerome O'Neill, in his opening statement argued that the diocese systematically hired priests with questionable backgrounds, ignored warning signs and covered up misconduct to protect against lawsuits.
UPDATE: On Thursday, Judge Matthew Katz who is hearing the case ruled that while the claim for compensatory damages for negligent supervision may go to the jury, no award of punitive damages against the Diocese will be permitted because plaintiff did not prove that the Diocese knew of Rev. Alfred Willis' prior history of molesting children. (Rutland Herald).
